


mother (make me a song so sweet)

by BlackAquoKat



Series: Ours to Choose [7]
Category: Video Blogging RPF, Who Killed Markiplier? (Web Series)
Genre: Damien Meets the Parent, Domestic Fluff, Hot Chocolate, Motherhood, Nonbinary Character, Other, Parent-Child Relationship, Tea, Veterans, lots of chocolate
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-26
Updated: 2020-04-26
Packaged: 2021-03-02 08:21:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23848117
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlackAquoKat/pseuds/BlackAquoKat
Summary: In which Damien finally meets a member of the law student's family.
Relationships: Damien | The Mayor/Y/N | The District Attorney (Who Killed Markiplier?)
Series: Ours to Choose [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/943836
Comments: 12
Kudos: 55





	mother (make me a song so sweet)

At first, Damien decides to give his friend space to reunite with their mother, freshly returned from the front two months after the war was declared over. He figures they would want plenty of time to themselves so their mother can settle back in and get reacquainted with normal life.

This plan lasts exactly three days before his friend calls him in the afternoon and asks why the hell he hasn’t come to visit.

“What?” Damien’s brow furrows as he adjusts his grip on the phone receiver. “But I thought you would want some alone time with your mother?”

“Damien, she’s been with soldiers for years now on the front, she said she wants to meet my friends and any other mildly friendly civilians I might know. So. Come on over. She’s making tea and hot chocolate.”

“Why both?”

“She really missed chocolate and decently-made tea, so she’s having both. I’m just counting my blessings that she didn’t try for chocolate tea.”

“Does such a thing exist?”

“Dear God, I hope not. I’d be doomed to an even worse tea addiction.”

* * *

Twenty minutes later, Damien knocks on his friend’s door, boxes of Almond Joys, Junior Mints, and Whoppers cradled in his other arm, courtesy of a quick stop at the nearest grocery store.

The door opens and a tall, severe woman who could only be his friend’s mother stands before him. Even if Damien had no knowledge of this person, the resemblance between her and his friend is irrefutable, from their black curls to their nose, even to the shape of their hands.

The most obvious difference is the scar that cuts from the side of her nose to the corner of her lips.

She looks him up and down, and suddenly Damien sees that she has the same kind of eternity in her eyes as her child. “You must be Damien. I’m Ruth.” She holds out her hand and Damien only gets to shake her hand once before she lets go. “Come on in, the tea’s still warm.”

“And the hot chocolate too?”

“Oh, you wanted some of that? It’s long gone.” After Damien shuts the door behind him, Ruth eyes the candy in his arms. “Is all that chocolate for me too?”

“Yes, um, my friend mentioned that you missed chocolate, so I thought I’d bring a Welcome Home gift for you.”

Ruth’s eyes brighten as she accepts Damien’s offerings. “Raindrop! Your friend is here and he brought chocolate offerings.”

“MOM!” Suddenly, there’s the law student coming out of the kitchen with a tray carrying three steaming mugs. “I have been so careful keeping that nickname a secret! You’ve been here less than a week and you expose me!”

Ruth waits until the law student sets the tray on the coffee table before pinching their shoulder. “I’ve got lost time to make up for, Raindrop. That includes using your name and fulfilling my parental obligation to embarrass you in front of your friends.”

Damien thinks he might love Ruth already, even with her highly intimidating demeanor. He also decides, for his own safety and self-preservation, not to ask Ruth about the “Raindrop” nickname until the law student is out of earshot. “What kind of tea do I have to choose from?”

“Chamomile or mint.”

Damien selects chamomile and the three of them proceed to sit down, Damien in the armchair, the law student and Ruth on the couch.

Throughout their discussions, Damien finds that Ruth’s similarities are more than surface deep. A similar deadpan sense of humor, the refusal to deal with nonsense, a love for tea (Ruth makes two more cups for herself and one more for he and the law student), etc. 

But Ruth has a haunted look in that ancient gaze of hers that the law student lacks. He imagines this reflects the impact the war left on her. It makes his heart ache.

Before he knows it, their conversations last long into the evening, full of laughter and geniality as they all slowly eat their way through the candy Damien brought. The wrappers rest haphazardly on the coffee table around the empty mugs.

By the time he looks at his watch again, the late hour makes him blink. “I…oh my, I think I’ve overstayed my welcome into tomorrow, or, well, today, I suppose.” He yawns. “I’ll get out of your hair–”

“Nonsense,” Ruth interrupts firmly. “We’re not sending you home at this time of night. You’ll yawn yourself off a bridge.” She gestures to one of the hallways next to the kitchen. “We have a guest room. Feel free to use it.”

“Oh, I couldn’t impose–”

“If you were imposing, I wouldn’t offer. Stay the night, we’ll all have a nice breakfast together. We have clean clothes you can wear in the morning.”

Damien suddenly sees where the law student gets their blunt way of speaking.

Speaking of the law student, they’ve been watching this interaction with thinly veiled amusement. “Maybe we could all have breakfast at Amy’s Planet tomorrow. They went through some renovations while you were away, and expanded their menu.”

“Oh, I would _love_ some of Amy’s coffee, let’s do that.” 

Ruth gives Damien a pressing look, and he realizes he doesn’t have much of a choice in rejecting this venture. Which he’s absolutely fine with. He can’t remember the last time he’s enjoyed company to this extent, and he’s eager to get to know Ruth better. He had been worried she would not like him, considering the unorthodox way he and the law student became friends.

“In, ah, that case,” he says through another yawn, “I think I’m going to turn in for the night, so I can be plenty coherent at Amy’s tomorrow.”

They all exchange good nights, and as Damien makes his way to the bathroom (where the spare toothbrush he’s claimed on past impromptu sleepovers awaits), he overhears Ruth say to the law student, “Your taste in friends has improved greatly, Raindrop.”

Damien can’t help but smile victoriously at that. Mission accomplished.


End file.
